PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

It was supposed to be a good and fun trip. After all, it was the day after Christmas with family and we were with family again on a flight to Hawaii for a post-Christmas respite.

My wife calls these trips, with two children and three grandchildren, “making memories.” And she is right!

This was my fourth annual retirement party with the entire family and it was going to be a good first day on our trip to the islands.

But, then something happened. Not a major “something,” but something anyway.

As we neared Kauai, the weather got worse and it turned out we couldn’t land there because of low -ying fog – lower than suitable for our Boeing 737-B aircraft.

So, we circled for awhile, then heard the captain say that we had to divert to Honolulu, about 50 miles way.

We did. It was raining heavily there but the fog was not low enough to prevent a landing.

Turned out we also had to get gassed up, which raises the question about why we were low enough on fuel to require the diversion. The need for refueling wasn’t the express reason for the diversion, but I suppose the side trip was understandable because we would have had to circle around for at least another hour or so above Kauai to allow the weather to clear.

We stayed on the plane in Honolulu while, fortunately, the captain and flight attendants opened the restrooms. Let me just say the lines were long.

After about an hour on the ground, we took off again for a bumpy 25-minute flight to Kauai.

We made it safely and started our sojourn in the islands.

But, with all due respect to our air carrier, Alaska (all of the staff performed very well under the circumstances, maintaining their normal level of quality service, with a bit of humor thrown in), this was just another in a series of flying dislocations for us.

Don’t misunderstand – the dislocations have occurred on great trips and we are appropriately thankful for the opportunities to travel. Still, this morning in Hawaii, it’s good to be on the ground where Hawaii golf is in my future.

Enjoy your own post-Christmas time as we heard toward the New Year!